FRIDAY, JULY 17
Scripture: Exodus 9:13-19

Exodus 9:13-19 says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, “Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: ‘Let My people go, that they may serve Me, for at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth. Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth. As yet you exalt yourself against My people in that you will not let them go. Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now. Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die.’”’” So after the first plague to strike the animals of Egypt, those who were heavily involved in agriculture would have had the time to buy production animals from the Israelites. I suspect they had to pay a premium price. But the Lord knew what they were doing and He had a plan. So in the seventh plague, God went after the livestock again. This time, the replacement animals that the Egyptians had to purchase from the Israelites were the ones targeted. And they were targeted not by pestilence, but by hail. So he declared the people should go to the field, get their men and animals out of the fields because the next day very heavy hail would come down. No one would survive in the fields. Now this is an interesting manifestation of mercy that comes to the Egyptians at this point. After 6 major plagues, the Egyptians had figured out what Moses said, was a surety. So Moses had earned the reputation as a prophet whose words would not fall to the ground. Samuel earned the same reputation. If Samuel delivered a prophecy, people knew it would come to pass. And it was the same for Moses. So when everyone heard the seventh plague was coming, they knew that it would come to pass. And then they had a choice – they could choose to preserve their servants and livestock or they could disregard Moses’ words at their own peril. After six strong plagues, we could suspect a significant number of wiser Egyptians. Do people learn from adversity? Or is deception so great in the last days they just cannot hear?